You’ve heard of Star Wars, right? Good. Now, while Star Wars today is this gigantic franchise with its own convention, a library-size canon, and a toy line-up unlike any other, it all started with George Lucas writing and pitching Star Wars to United Artist and Universal Pictures with them both declining to produce, distribute, and make the film with Lucas.
Continue reading “CLASSIC REVIEW: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)”
The following is a review of Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out, a Pete Docter film.
I am a part of the Pixar-generation. You could say that I grew up with Andy from Toy Story, and thus Pixar has always been very important to me. In fact, Toy Story was the first animated feature film I ever gave a perfect score. Pixar don’t just make movies for kids, they make relatable animated feature films for people of all ages. And with Inside Out, Pixar have found some of the magic that made them special in the first place. Continue reading “REVIEW: Inside Out (2015)”
The following is a spoiler-free review of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
In Rogue Nation, the IMF is dissolved and Ethan Hunt is being hunted by the CIA. Hunt’s mission is to prove the existence of the Syndicate, and his mission leads him to an undercover MI6-agent that he teams up with. That is the basic premise of the fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible-franchise. Continue reading “REVIEW: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)”
The following is a review of Self/less, a film by Tarsem Singh.
What if you could live forever? What if you weren’t chained to your body? – Self/less stars Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley, two great leading men. So this should absolutely be a fantastic film. Ultimately, though, Self/less isn’t worthy of the talented actors in the film. Continue reading “REVIEW: Self/less (2015)”
The following is a review of Sinister 2 (2015), directed by Ciaran Foy.
The original Sinister film was, without a doubt, one of the scariest films of 2012. I absolutely loved that film, and that is huge for me as I’m not a big fan of horror in general. So, as you can imagine, I was really excited about its sequel, Sinister 2. Here’s the thing though, unfortunately, Sinister 2 just isn’t good. Continue reading “REVIEW: Sinister 2 (2015)”
The following is a review of Vacation (2015), a Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley film.
Believe it or not, 2015’s Vacation is the fifth theatrical installment in the Vacation-series. We’ve been with the Griswolds through many memorable adventures in Vegas, Europe, and, most notably, across the United States of America. This time around it is not Clark but Rusty Griswold leading his family from the Midwest to Walley World – and, sadly, it is not as memorable as the original Vacation. Continue reading “REVIEW: Vacation (2015)”
The following is a review of 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four (2015)
Fantastic Four is the updated Marvel Comics origin story about its First Family – the Storm-siblings, the incredibly intelligent Reed Richards, and the strong-willed Ben Grimm. Together they team up to defend Earth and its citizens. But before becoming a team, they changed in more ways than one. Does the newest 20th Century Fox superhero film live up to its title? Sadly, no.
However, it did start quite well. This film is loosely based on the 2004 Marvel Comics reboot, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and you definitely see its roots if you’re familiar with the ‘source material.’ Reed Richards is a child prodigy, who is ultimately invited to study and work in the Baxter Building, and he is aided by his good friend, Ben Grimm, who, in spite of his involvement in Reed’s school project, has no real attachment to the Baxter Building.
In fact, I loved this part. There was a certain Batman Begins-feel to the film, and everything worked for quite a while. There can be no doubt, the best character in this film is Reed Richards – as he should be. Also, while I was afraid of what tone Fox was going with, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the film was less grim than the trailer made it out to be.
It is not that the film was perfect for the first hour, or so, but it ran rather smoothly. Sure, the dialogue was a bit wonky and cheesy at times – but it didn’t really hurt the film in its first half. But then things started to fall apart. I can tell you that there is a handful of comic book movie sins in this film – but no sin is bigger than the one they commit at its halfway point. Reed Richards’ reasoning for using the Quantum Gate is extremely dodgy and out of character.
After having reached the point of no return, you start to notice the film’s clear errors. The look of the ‘other dimension’ is not done well, Kate Mara is wearing what looks to be a wig for half of her scenes, and the pacing is awful. When I started to think about the villain, then the film started to be upsetting.
Victor Von Doom (Not ‘Domashev’; apparently, they chose to keep the original name after fan backlash) is obviously the villain. And I’m not just saying that because I know of the comic books. The film hits you over the head with the obvious fact that Toby Kebbell’s character is the villain. He is referred to as ‘Dr. Doom’ sarcastically – as well as ‘Adolf’ (no, I’m not kidding). Sadly, Doom is a forgettable character and his look is awful. Doom should not look like a silver-and-green mannequin.
Josh Trank, Simon Kinberg, and Jeremy Slater had a great plan for this film, but while they handled Mr. Fantastic and the first half of the film amazingly, they ultimately fall short. In the end, the pacing of the final act is what kills this film. The big battle is rushed, the villain is wasted, and Marvel’s First Family doesn’t really live up to its name. An awful reboot for the Fantastic Four.
Final Score: 4.9 out of 10 – Though promising at first, Fantastic Four completely falls apart in the poorly paced final act.
I’m Jeffrey Rex
The following is a review of Jon Schnepp’s The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?
For more reasons than one, this is the perfect time for Jon Schnepp’s documentary to be released. Not only is Ant-Man out in theaters in the summer of 2015 – a film infamous for the Edgar Wright-problems – but Avengers: Age of Ultron suffered from problematic quotes from its director back in April 2015. Meanwhile, Superman has not been this relevant since 1978.
Continue reading “REVIEW: The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? (2015)”
The following is a spoiler-free review of Marvel’s Ant-Man (2015).
We’ve reached the final film of Marvel Studios‘ Phase Two – Ant-Man is here. If this sounds like Marvel has gone for one of the most obscure comic books they’ve ever done, then you’re not entirely wrong. The general public wouldn’t be that familiar with the character, but he is not unimportant – his film is much more than a stopgap between Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Captain America 3 – in fact, this origin story is a breath of fresh air for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Continue reading “REVIEW: Ant-Man (2015)”
*I attribute it to 2015 due to the fact that it was only released at festivals in 2014 – and had a wide release in 2015.
I’m not a horror fan – let me start by stating that. For me to be interested in a horror film it has to either: be a horror classic, feature an actor / a director I like, or, my very favorite, be an acclaimed low-budget horror film. This film checks two of the three boxes for me. Continue reading “REVIEW: Creep (2015)”
I'm Jeffrey Rex 